Officials set Colosseum repair date for December

Officials set Colosseum repair date for December

1of2Founder of luxury shoemaker Tod's Diego Della Valle, right, and Rome's mayor Gianni Alemanno attend a press conference in Rome, Tuesday July 31, 2012. Italian cultural officials say a euro 25 million (30million dollars) restoration of the Colosseum being paid for by Della Valle will begin in December. Officials announced Tuesday that the work is expected to take 2 1/2 years. The ancient Roman arena has been blackened by pollution and rocked by vibrations from a nearby subway line. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)Photo: Gregorio Borgia

2of2Rome's Colosseum will be restored in a $30 million project expected to be completed in 2015. The monument will remain open to tourists during the work.Photo: Gregorio Borgia

ROME - Italian cultural officials this past week announced the $30 million restoration of the Colosseum financed by the founder of luxury leather good maker Tod's will begin in December.

Officials said the work is expected to take 2½ years, during which time the monument will remain open to tourists.

The restoration, which also aims to make more of the monument accessible, will recover a wide swath of the monument's basement that is scheduled to open to the public beginning in 2015.

The ancient Roman arena has been blackened by pollution and rocked by vibrations from a nearby subway line and car traffic for years.

But its stability has been guaranteed by officials, despite concerns over a 40-centimeter inclination on its south side described by Italian media as the "Leaning Tower of Pisa effect."